Beginning a new creative venture can be messy. Very messy. The photo above is my preliminary collection of some of the materials needed for a teacher certification workshop I'll be taking soon at Amy O's Oxford Rug Hooking School. I'm going to try to capture some of what I experience there, and the first part of the experience is this getting-ready-part.

Definitely messy! And this is even before I pack a suitcase with all the regular things I'll need, like clothing and toiletries, for a week away.

Frames, bags of tools, bags of yarn and wools, plus Amy's book and a few rugs for show and tell...and there's more to come. Packing the car for this event will be epic. I am very excited and more than a bit daunted. But I know Amy and I know her thorough, funny, and patient teaching, so I know I'll come out the other side very happy and creatively raring to go. Did I mention how excited I am?

I expect the messy pile above to spread, as I continue gathering all that's required.

"In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order." --Carl Gustav Jung